Shiny Object Syndrome

(en.wikipedia.org)

67 points | by janisz 2 days ago ago

25 comments

  • codeulike 2 days ago ago

    This is just a rebranding of novelty bias to make it seem like a new idea

  • venning 2 days ago ago

    The earliest reference on Wikipedia is 2011, but I was saying "Shiny Object Syndrome" and even specifically abbreviating it "SOS" by at least 2005.

    I know that I first heard it from somewhere else, but I do not remember where. I'm pretty sure it was a TV show.

    Does any one remember where it originated from?

    • nomel 2 days ago ago

      And its strategic use through "nerd sniping".

  • d4v3 2 days ago ago

    "Shiny object syndrome is the situation ..."

    'The situation'? Can't help but feel this is very imprecise and unserious language.

    • onemoresoop 2 days ago ago

      Like Magpie developers? It may be somewhat humorous but that’s what these analogies look like from the outside. People chasing new things or trends for its own sake is a thing.

  • Ozzie_osman 2 days ago ago

    I call it Toddler Soccer Syndrome. Ball's over there? Let's all chase it. Oh, moved over here now? Everyone run the other way.

    • rf15 2 days ago ago

      I know it as dogs-with-ball syndrome, and rather used that analogy to teach my son what not to do when learning to play football.

  • Dilettante_ 2 days ago ago

    They're just letting anyone make a Wikipedia page these days huh

  • xandrius 2 days ago ago

    Why is such a small article being upvoted? It's basically just a definition page.

  • zzunkie 2 days ago ago

    If anything, there's so much new stuff these days that I don't even get the FOMO to try it all.. building it myself is easy too.

  • mcphage 2 days ago ago

    In boardgame communities, it’s called “Cult of the New”.

  • gspr 2 days ago ago

    I wonder if this has any relevance at all to a bunch of new stuff that people on HN seem very obsessed over these days.

    • rf15 2 days ago ago

      No no, this is a genuinely new and unrelated thing few people have seen so far.

  • nilail 2 days ago ago

    [dead]

  • jan_m_savage 2 days ago ago

    [dead]

  • duke_sam 2 days ago ago

    An aspect of this I find interesting is that previously effort was a reasonably good barrier to making something new. If a feature/library existed someone cared enough to put the work in to make it exist.

    Now it’s just a question of tokens. The presentation/feature list is no sign of effort or caring. So we get limitless new shiny things to try and filter through

    • drawfloat 2 days ago ago

      Pretty sure bringing up tokens immediately is itself an example of this.

    • Sharlin 2 days ago ago

      It’s possibly a good thing in disguise. Maybe it will make software dev finally more inclined to focus on tested and true technologies rather than chasing trendy novelty stuff.

      (Oh, who am I kidding, it’s AI that do tech decisions now and they choose whatever stuff that’s overrepresented in their training data, or just NIH stuff, which has inexplicably become a virtue, like measuring progress by lines of code spent has become. )

    • add-sub-mul-div 2 days ago ago

      It's the Eternal September of open source software projects.